The Getting of Wisdom tells the story of Laura Rambotham, a 12-year-old girl who is just starting at her boarding school. This is based on Henry Handel Richardson's experiences of her own school, the Prebysterian Ladies College in central Melbourne. The story goes through her friends and enemies and all the life of a boarding school in early 20th century Australia, and all the subjects and learning too. Laura learns a lot but her education does not satisfy her, and her social life is thrown upon her as very different from her peers. - Summary by Bronwyn Kate....

Teen/Young adult

The Story of My Life is a personal account of Helen Keller's life, from her early days to those as an adult. It includes how she came to meet her teacher Ann Sullivan, and learnt to communicate using the manual alphabet. It then goes on to chronicle her days as a college student. (Summary by Maria)...

Biography, Teen/Young adult

Twenty-year-old Mary Alice is bored with her home life and envious of the beautiful, poised, popular girls she sees at parties. At her mother's advice, she reluctantly visits her Godmother in New York, who teaches Mary Alice a little homemade magic and the one great Secret that will put her at ease with other people. How can Mary Alice learn to use these gifts to bring happiness into her own life and other lives? Although this charming novelette is subtitled A True Fairy Story, it reveals that most of the magic in life can be found within ourselves. (Introduction by Jan MacGillivray)...

Fiction, Teen/Young adult, Fairy tales

A student discovers the secret of animating lifeless matter and, by assembling body parts, creates the monster Frankenstein. Rejected by society, Frankenstein vows revenge on his creator. (Summary written by Gesine) Note: Project originally cataloged October 20, 2005. Audio files were volume adjusted and re-uploaded May 3, 2010....

Tragedy, Teen/Young adult, Science fiction

The author Thomas Archer lived 1830 – 1893; he wrote several juvenile stories, and this book: Miss Grantley’s Girls – And the Stories She Told Them , was published in 1886. It is a book in 7 chapters. Miss Grantley is a teacher and works as a governess, and she after some coaxing tells somewhat romantic stories to her girls. In the first chapter it says: There was nothing romantic in Miss Grantley's appearance, and yet she was the sort of person that you could not help looking at again and again if you once saw her. . . We found out too that she could tell stories of her own; and now and then we used to persuade her to 'spin a yarn,' as Bella Dornton, whose father had been a naval officer, used to say. . . I don't suppose that any of us will ever forget Miss Grantley's pretty parlour. So join the girls in the parlour and listen when Miss Grantley tells her stories. (Summary by Lars Rolander)...

Teen/Young adult, Romance

In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) published two collections of aphorisms: A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated, in the Saturday Review newspaper, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young, in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtruse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde's style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. (Summary by Carl Manchester)...

Teen/Young adult, Humor, Satire

The second part in the story of Anne Shirley, covering her years of teaching at Avonlea School, before she heads off to college.

Fiction, Teen/Young adult, Children

Polly Milton, a 14-year-old country girl, visits her friend Fanny Shaw and her wealthy family in the city for the first time. Poor Polly is overwhelmed by the splendor at the Shaws' and their urbanized, fashionable lifestyles, fancy clothes and some other habits she considers weird and, mostly, unlikable. However, Polly's warmth, support and kindness eventually win her the hearts of all the family members. Six years later, Polly comes back to the city to become a music teacher. (Summary from wikipedia)...

Children, Teen/Young adult, Fiction

Jerusha Abbott was brought up at the John Grier Home, an old-fashioned orphanage. The children were wholly dependent on charity and had to wear other people's cast-off clothes. Jerusha's unusual first name was selected by the matron off a grave stone, while her surname was selected out of the phone book. At the age of 18, she has finished her education and is at loose ends, still working in the dormitories at the institution where she was brought up. One day, after the asylum's trustees have made their monthly visit, Jerusha is informed by the asylum's dour matron that one of the trustees has offered to pay her way through college. He has spoken to her former teachers and thinks she has potential to become an excellent writer. He will pay her tuition and also give her a generous monthly allowance. Jerusha must write him a monthly letter, because he believes that letter-writing is important to the development of a writer. However, she will never know his identity; she must address the letters to Mr. John Smith, and he will never reply. Jerusha catches a glimpse of the shadow of her benefactor from the back, and knows he is a tall lon...

Fiction, Teen/Young adult